I have always been partial to pictures of people, especially in B&W. People at play, at work or facials. I realize permissions may make that more work but I never get tired of them if they are good.
People are always enthralled by transitions from one thing to another. Hence the popularity of Trading Spaces and the other remodel shows. But it doesn’t have to be that involved. You can do transition shots of simpler things.
Example: Three shots of a hand or just fingers, before a manicure…rough, maybe a little dirty…definitely in need of help, during the manicure to point out that it occurred and, of course, the finished product all fine and elegant. A french manicure would show up beautifully in B&W.
Spend a day at your local vets. Animals do the funniest things trying to get out of a vet waiting room. Or before, during and after a grooming visit. Those can be hysterical. Especially if someone brings in a dog with long hair all matted up from ice balls and the snow and whatnot.
Ask your local fire dept or paramedic group if you can hitch a ride with them for the weekend.
Take pics of people getting the end results of their tax return filings snicker
how about dis-used railway tracks, and buildings. theres a particular residue of emotion in these places that can be captured if the light is just right. the good thing about this subject is that (especially in black and white) the viewer does not have a time reference, except that its in the past,and on one level, its a metaphor for all that we remember,which is also in the past.
add in some close up shots of rails,sleepers and stuff, and the job`s done.
the important element for me, is the light – sometimes you can almost tell what month it was, what time of day etc, just from the light.
the feeling of these places can be almost dreamlike, so spend some time finding a spot that has an "effect"on you. good luck
Something that I’d like to try being new at the thing : IR pictures of people. The trick being able to get somebody not to move during the long exposure. Maybe with a hidden stand or something.
I think you need also to be surrounded by nature/plants to get the most IR light effects.
Here is a technical challenge! Has anybody seen such a picture? Usually when I look at IR pictures they’re only landscapes…
Shoot 15 punctuation marks in hand painted signs, close-ups.
Pick the best.
Nostrils of a laughing woman.
Eye on the sparrow. A sparrow’s eye, that is.
Food that looks back at you.
hi folks, thanks for all the suggestions. Truly new challenges (and not easy … yes!!!)are suggested. Soon I 'll post a selection of 5 ideas that I will further elaborate Z
I’ve always liked zoos. I seem to have a knack for catching animals in interesting positions/placements.
One of my best b&ws is of a tree branch. The branches (small) are parallell to each other but at a 45 degree angle to the ground. It’s hard to describe accurately.
The take a walk and see what you find idea always worked for me.
My favourite photographers say as much about their side of the camera as what the lens is pointing at.
Who are you? What drives you? What images capture your thoughts? Are you a people person, if so which people fascinate you? What situations capture your essence? Are you truly in your element on a mountain at dawn, or did you only go there to take nice photographs?
I only started photography a couple of years ago, and this idea is helping me put together a portfolio which I can call my own. I do have some technically impressive images which I might sell, but they’re perhaps not me.
As a musician, at the moment my (spare-time) project is capturing facial expressions which capture the performance and superimposing abstracts (made from moving the camera during exposure of particularly coloured lights) which convey what I think the music “looks like”.
I’ll let you know how it turns out!
One of my daughter’s friends is taking a photography course. Two of the assignments were quite interesting to me. One was of close ups of details so that you really didn’t know exactly what was being photographed - one I recall specifically was a wheel cover that she blocked in a unique way.
The other was a double-exposure exercise - she used my daughter’s car as the common base for all the photos, then “overlaid” different textured items as the second exposure and mounted six of them in an arrangement.
Me, I’m just happy to take a photo where I don’t behead the subjects. :eek: Photographically, that is.
Another idea : taking picture of somebody only in reflections : chrome, water, glass building, etc…
So ** Zweistein **, did you got your idea? need more?
Yes, thanks for all the good ideas. I can’t wait to get started. Probably this weekend